The Battle of Spring

For years, my father and his wife argued about the spring cleaning of their garden.

For my father, spring-cleaning a garden was to be done only when absolutely necessary: picking up garbage (plastic or children’s toys blown down by the wind during the winter), gathering leaves that had collected on the paths to put in the flowerbeds, and sometimes cutting back the flower stems of perennials that had managed to stand up despite the snow. And often, overwhelmed with work in spring, he would even neglect to prune the stems of dead plants, which eventually disappeared under the new year’s foliage. All this organic matter covers the soil like a mulch, protecting it from erosion, weeds and the vagaries of the weather, while decomposing to nourish the life in it and, by extension, the plants.

To his partner, this heap of wet leaves and broken stems, tumbling one on top of the other, was a total mess, clashing with the beauty of the bulbs and spring-flowering perennials.

Now that I’m in charge of their garden, I feel obliged to perpetuate the traditional spring battle, but I have another solution that might suit meticulous gardeners and laidback ones alike, and maybe even save some couples!

Spring Cleaning for the Laidback and Meticulous

Remember when I told you to save your autumn leaves and even steal your neighbors’? Spring is a good time to use them. Ideally, you’ll have shredded them in the fall before storing them, but you don’t have to – they’ll probably have crumbled a bit on their own over the winter.

Start by laying the stems of perennials such as grasses on the ground. You can also cut them off and let them fall to the ground. Then cover your flowerbeds with a layer of these shredded leaves, enough to hide what shouldn’t be seen. It’s that simple!

The shredded leaves, somewhat decomposed, will have taken on a beautiful dark color similar to that of soil or compost, and your garden will look as clean, if not cleaner, than a garden with bare soil from which all traces of organic waste have been removed.

Your flowerbeds will be mulched for the year! The “clutter” will decompose, unseen, and nourish soil life. It will provide shelter for beneficial insects and animals that will keep your garden healthy.

The best of both worlds, right?

Not So Fast!

If you’re keen to do some spring cleaning in your garden or don’t have any leaves to cover your flower beds, I’d still suggest waiting a while.

To begin with, for a few weeks after the snow has melted, the soil is susceptible to compaction, as excessive moisture softens it and makes it more vulnerable to compression. Wait until the ground has dried before driving on it. This includes grassed surfaces.

To protect beneficial insects, it’s best to wait until temperatures warm up further, usually in late spring or early summer, before starting to clean up your garden. It’s often said to wait until temperatures stay above 10°C at night. This allows beneficial insects, which overwinter under leaves or in dead stems, to emerge from their torpor. These insects will simplify your horticultural tasks by eating phenomenal numbers of pests and pollinating your flowers and crops.

If you wait until it’s warm enough for the insects, the cleaning problem will probably solve itself, as the foliage will already have started to grow…

Spring Vacation

Another solution is to go on vacation in spring. Leave when the snow melts and return when the leaves start to grow and hide those organic detritus. You’ll save yourself the trouble of having to clean up and/or endure the sight of decaying leaves.

Or, at least try not to touch your flowerbeds this year and see what happens. Maybe it’s time to end this spring battle?